Oops! The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame Did It Again

Well, it is that time of year again when the famous Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, or as I like to call it, the “Hall of Shame,” announces its new class of inductees. The 2013 class consists of Rush, Heart, Donna Summer, Albert King, Randy Newman, and Public Enemy.

The Rock Hall is supposed to be honoring those artists who achieved a lifetime of excellence in the genre of rock and roll. The artist can be a rock band, an individual performer, or even an artist who one may not consider rock and roll, but would be considered an influence on the genre.

Great artists such as the Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Queen, Ray Charles, Johnny Cash, Pete Seeger, and many others are enshrined in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. They are enshrined for different reasons as I stated previously. On the other hand, there are great bands who have yet to be enshrined, such as KISS and Deep Purple.

There are those inductees that make some music lovers like me scratch our collective heads, such as ABBA and Madonna. For the life of me, I can not make any kind of justification why either of those artists are members of a ROCK AND ROLL Hall of Fame, not even as an influence, nor having an impact.

In this blog, I will examine the 2013 Class which has a couple of inductees that if I were an NFL referee, I would throw the flag on. There are a couple of good choices as well. At the end, I also go into a small rant about a certain band once again being snubbed.

Here we go with the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of the 2013 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Class.

The Good:

The Canadian band Rush finally getting the recognition it deserves.

I know people who are diehard Rush fans, and they are probably going crazy. I like many of their songs, particularly “Tom Sawyer, ” and “Limelight.” Anyway, this band has been around for decades, and has never been honored for their inventive songs, and great playing by Geddy Lee (bass, keyboards), Alex Lifeson (guitar), and the fantastic drummer, Neil Peart. Great pick.

This is another great choice. The Wilson sisters, Ann and Nancy, showed the world that women can rock just like their male counterparts. This band kicked butt with songs like “Barracuda,” “Magic Man,” and “Crazy on You.” I am so glad to see these ladies so honored. They definitely deserve it.

Albert King’s blues playing was awesome. He was a great player. Considered one of the “Three Kings of Blues Music” along with B.B King, and Freddie King, along with the fact that the genre of the blues is one of the main base ingredients for rock and roll, Mr. King is a great pick.

I mean, the man is known for what kind of contribution to rock music, exactly? Yes, we all know he wrote and performed “Short People, ” and that song for the movie, “Toy Story,” which was called, “You Got A Friend In Me.” The “Toy Story” song has been rehashed so many times also.

Where is the connection to rock and roll? This pick was awful. Yes, he wrote several movie soundtracks, but why should he been in a Hall of Fame with the likes of Aerosmith, the Rolling Stones, and Van Halen? Bad pick.

Donna Summer joins ABBA and Madonna as being in the wrong Hall of Fame.

Look, I LOVE Donna Summer. She was one of my favorites. I was so sorry she passed away, and it is sad she won’t be alive to accept the honor. However, songs like “Love to Love You Baby,” “Last Dance,” and “She Works Hard for the Money” are not rock and roll. Yeah, disco did crossover to rock and roll, as KISS (who at the time were on the same label, Casablanca Records) did with their song, “I Was Made For Loving You.” However, I just don’t think that is much of a justification to put a DISCO artist in a ROCK AND ROLL Hall of Fame.

Public Enemy does NOT belong in a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Period. When I saw the list of nominees, not only did I see Public Enemy as a nominee, but N.W.A. I KNEW that the Hall of Fame Committee lost their marbles. However, Public Enemy was the only one of the two hip hop artists nominated to make it to the Hall.

Why in the name of everything that is holy is a hip hop group in a ROCK AND ROLL Hall of Fame? I really don’t get it. Are they going to induct Suge Knight, Tupac Shakur, and The Notorius B.I G next? This has to be the worst inductee ever. They are not rock and roll. I don’t see any influence.

Well, that is my analysis of the 2013 class. It is a weird group, that’s for sure.

Here is my small rant concerning one particular snub.

Like most Halls of Fame, there are a lot of politics and pettiness that goes into voting. Why Rolling Stone editor, Jann Wenner, who was instrumental in starting the Hall, has this vendetta against certain bands, particularly KISS, I don’t know.

KISS took Rush, and AC/DC on their first tours as opening acts. Gene Simmons discovered Van Halen. KISS leads all American bands with number of Gold Records sold. Many of the band’s contemporaries, such as Queen, Aerosmith, and now Heart, and even their former label mate, Donna Summer are in the Hall. Rush, AC/DC, and Van Halen are Hall of Famers. KISS has had all this impact on Rock and Roll musically, and otherwise for nearly 40 years, yet still are not enshrined.

Yes, I constantly complain about my favorite band, KISS. I plead guilty. As I said previously, Deep Purple has also been snubbed as plenty of other artists. However, it just appears that KISS is being kept out because of one man’s pettiness, and I don’t think that is right at all.

KISS haters say the band is a “gimmick band,” or “They depend on the makeup,” or “They’re not real musicians.” Trust me, my readers. I have heard every slight against KISS on the planet. I just don’t think they would have sold over 100,000,000 records worldwide, or would have lasted nearly 40 years if they were a gimmick band.

If I could ask Mr. Jann Wenner a question, I would ask him how he could justify the impending induction of Public Enemy, many inductions of KISS’ contemporaries that I mentioned (Queen, Aerosmith, etc), and even Alice Cooper (who influenced KISS), but he can keep KISS out.

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